Police: Person of interest found in the murder of a Cahokia sex offender

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BELLEVILLE, IL (KTVI) - The Major Case Squad has been activated to investigate the murder of a registered sex offender.

St. Clair County Sheriff Richard Watson called out the Major Case Squad Thursday night after his deputies found the body of a registered sex offender lying in a street near the Cahokia city limits. Investigators believe they have identified a person of interest.

Authorities say William Harriel Junior, 26, had been shot to death. They don`t believe he was attacked because of his previous criminal record.

The body was found not far from the victim's home on Amelia drive in the Parkville Terrace neighborhood which is just outside the Cahokia city limits. Authorities say the 26 year old victim was shot in the head. They don't believe he was attacked because of his previous criminal record as a sex offender. Major Case detectives from eleven departments have been working on the investigation for two days.

"Several investigative leads have developed . Valuable items of evidence have been identified pointing to a person of interest." said Lt. George Mokriakow of the Major Case Squad.

Detectives refused to say if that person of interest was in custody. But, they are appealing to anyone who was near the 100 block of Amelia Thursday night for help.

"We're asking at this point that anybody in that community or surrounding roadways if they saw any suspicious person, vehicle, any sort of activity that's suspicious in their neighborhood to report to us regarding this." said Lt. George Mokriakow.

Anyone with information or who might have seen someone suspicious in the Parkville Terrace neighborhood off Camp Jackson Road Thursday night is asked to call CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-866-371-8477 or the Major Case Squad Hotline at 618-825-5200 or 618-825-5201.